Meet the MPDC Board.

Profession: Job Training Designer

When I returned to Chicago after serving abroad in the military, I wanted to put down roots in a neighborhood with strong social ties. I love McKinley Park because it’s a small town inside the big city, with neighbors who know and help each other.

As a performing artist for many years, I learned a lot about creative problem solving, collaborating across disciplines, and working with diverse audiences of all ages. That prepared me for my Air Force career in public relations and training, as well as my deployment as an interpreter.

In my current job, I design and deliver job training for people in a wide variety of workplaces and industries, interpreting between technical language and everyday speech. It's a lot like what we do at MPDC.

Profession: Union Organizing

I’m a native Southwest-Sider and have lived in McKinley Park for over 20 years. I come from an immigrant family and have always loved McKinley Park as a landing spot for new immigrant families. I am very passionate about fairness and believe that working people and communities deserve nice things too. We’re the ones who make this city go.

With the McKinley Park Development Council, I am especially interested in figuring out ways to make and keep wealth in and with our community. I dream about us creating ways for our neighbors to have living wage jobs nearby and access to affordable housing where we can build some equity and hold onto our hard-earned dollars. I dream about a McKinley Park where we all care about and for each other, across all the ways that we are different and unique.

Profession: Higher Education

I fell in love with McKinley Park after moving here in 2017. The park spaces here are some of the best in Chicago, and the character, people, and accessibility drew me in. I have always been an advocate for community-driven collaboration and development, and McKinley Park is an incredible place for fostering equitable and accessible development of small businesses, urban renewal, and shared spaces.

My goal is to foster connection and collaboration to build inclusive spaces for knowledge equity and representation. When not teaching and researching at UIC, I am often out walking my big fluffy dog in the park, attending community events, bicycling around Chicago, gardening, cooking, or supporting our local businesses.

Profession: Instructional Development

While working and living in McKinley Park, I’ve been impressed by the community’s strong civic engagement, which inspired me to join the McKinley Park Development Council. I spent 8 years teaching at Velma Thomas in McKinley Park and now work at the Office of Multilingual and Multicultural Education within Chicago Public Schools. Outside of work, I’ve volunteered with grassroots organizations focused on equity in education and voter engagement.

Through my involvement with the Council, I advocate for projects that promote equity, particularly in education. One of my key interests is integrating educational opportunities into urban development projects, such as creating educational programs along the riverfront bike path as part of the South Branch Connectivity Project.

Profession: Social Science Curriculum Designer

A lifelong educator, I spent six memorable years as a social science teacher at nearby Thomas Kelly College Prep High School. Many of our students came from McKinley Park, and over time I got to know the people, institutions and public spaces in this wonderful community. Returning to Chicago after several years abroad, I brought my family here for a visit and we all agreed that this was exactly where we wanted to live, work and play.

As a member of the McKinley Park Development Council, I am most passionate about helping to develop more places where people can spend time with neighbors and enjoy this unique corner of the city. To that end, I am helping to spur development along 35th Street that is responsive to the needs and desires of our community by opening a business with my wife that will serve as a neighborhood gathering place. I hope that our experience will allow me to help others with similar goals.

I am a dedicated community advocate who has called McKinley Park home for over 25 years. I deeply cherish this neighborhood, where my parents live, and where I am now raising my own family. Our favorite pastime is biking and rollerblading down the streets of McKinley Park, which fuels my drive to make this area friendlier and safer for my family and others in the community.

With the McKinley Park Development Council, my goal is to drive positive change and create a safer, more welcoming environment for everyone in the neighborhood.

Profession: Software Engineer

I am a software engineer (though I prefer “digital carpenter”) by day and physical carpenter and GC whenever I have the time. Though I haven’t always lived in McKinley Park, or Chicago for that matter, the neighborhood (and MPDC) started growing on me when I first visited. After a bit of convincing, my wife took some time away from her grad school activities to visit with me, and instantly fell in love. We moved to the neighborhood at the end of 2018, and bought a fixer-upper bungalow in 2020.

Since then, we’ve been building a life here, and advocating for ways to help others do the same. As someone adjacent to the building trades, I’m very passionate about design, not just of homes but of public spaces and communities, and it’s exactly that passion that I offer as a board member.

Profession: Artist

I am a first-generation Mexican American community-based public artist, curator, educator, and activist. Raised in the working class neighborhood of Gage Park on the Southwest side of Chicago, I now call the charming neighborhood of McKinley Park home, where I live with my husband and three children. My journey in public art and community activism has seen me serve as secretary of the Local School Council of Velma Thomas Early Childhood Center in McKinley Park from 2015 to 2020. Currently, I bring my passion to the Chicago Monuments Project: Pilsen Latina Legacies as the artist advisory coordinator, working alongside the esteemed multidisciplinary artist Diana Solis. My dedication to fostering community and partnerships has also led me to join the Board of McKinley Park Development Council.

Profession: Transportation Planner

I'm a transportation planner, born and raised in Mumbai, India, who moved to Chicago for my job in 2018. Ever since, I've grown fonder of the city and the McKinley Park neighborhood, where I’ve lived for four years.

As an urban planning consultant, I help cities make streets safer for all through  infrastructure and policies. I have a master's degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and in Urban Planning from New York University. As a MPDC board member, I'm keen to see our neighborhood thrive with local businesses, affordable housing and public transportation, and safe options for walking and biking.

Profession: Insurance

My name is Faye Wu but many people know me as “Nikita.” I am an active member of the school my son attends, Galileo, located in the 25th Ward where I help organize the annual fundraiser: Reach for the Stars. I have been an active member of the Chinese community for many years having been the MC of many ceremonies and galas and having worked at a prominent insurance agency. Today, I own my own business, the Faye Wu Agency of American Family Insurance located in the heart of Chinatown.

But it is McKinley Park that I have called home since 2002 and where, together with my husband and two sons, we have decided to grow even deeper roots by building an addition to our home to better accommodate our future needs and it is here that I would welcome the opportunity to serve the needs of the residents and build a better McKinley Park.